Quiz Your Blues Away

It’s always a little embarrassing when you’ve been living somewhere for 26 36 years and it’s your new friend Michelle, who arrived three weeks ago, that takes you to discover the unknown “quiz pub”. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty good at finding excuses for myself. That said, Michelle’s local tips can turn pretty wrong. Like the Peruvian restaurant where we spent 3 hours – including an hour of waiting and drinking cocktails between the starters and the main course – and were also told by the owner that the “little” delay happened because we went out to smoke between courses (courses served lukewarm between us). This Peruvian restaurant cost us a fortune and the owner nearly lost his teeth (my friend Elodie has a very effective nudge technique). That restaurant was Michelle’s suggestion.

It’s Monday night … Excuse me? Do you have something to do on Monday night? I mean something that does not involve at one point or another sucking half a box of Prozac? I thought so… One alternative to Prozac could be a good Fish n ‘Chips at Mr. Pickwick’s pub. It’s good for your cholesterol … and your neurons. In addition to the omegas 3 – which heal everything and bring peace to the world – Mr. Pickwick’s “quiz” might shake up your neurons.

At first, they play nice. It starts with a series of easy questions, like “who is the director of the “Titanic””? They call that general culture, and you feel like a God. Then without warning, they roll you up. Elodie’s nudge, compared to the series of ten questions on Interpol, is a caress (given that you actually do caress your teeth …). The quiz lets you catch your breath again: From which TV series of the 80s is inspired Steve McQueen’s latest film, “Widows”? It’s like the colour of Henri IV’s white horse, the answer is Widows.

It would not have helped you answer the question, but it’s a movie you really should go see. My friend Elodie does not play in it, but in terms of “bad-ass women” you’ll be fully satisfied. The movie is about life changes and tells the story of four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal activities. In the background, Steve McQueen shows how nice life can be in a place where shabby corruption between neighbours meet with racial and gender discrimination. He films Chicago dismantled by community struggles and Viola Davies, who, as terrified as determined, goes on to recruit three other women on the brink to recover 40kg in cuts of $ 100.

It’s much better than Prozac for your next Monday evening; and for those that will come after, don’t forget, there is always the “pub quiz” Mr. Pickwick.